Then, the Council was informed of receipt of a message from His Excellency Khalifa Ahmad Al-Dhahrani, Speaker of the House of Representative, regarding the conclusion reached by the House of Representatives with respect to a draft law for endorsement of amendment of paragraph 1 of article 20 of the Convention on Elimination (CEDAW), attached to Royal Decree No.3 for the year 2009, message received from the House of Representatives regarding the conclusion reached by the House of Representatives with respect to ratification of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s accession to the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, attached to Royal Decree No.75 for the year 2009 and the message received from the House of Representatives regarding the conclusion reached by the House of Representatives with respect to ratification of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s accession to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. The draft laws were referred to the competent committees for discussion and opinion thereon.

On a similar context, the Council was advised of referral of a draft law for amendment of certain provisions of Legislative Decree No.15 for the year 1976, promulgating the Penal Code, submitted by Their Excellencies Rabab Abdul Nabi Al-Arayyed, Dalal Jassim Al-Zayed, Dr. Shaikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Abdul Gaffar Abdul Husain Abdulla and Ahmad Ebrahim Behzad, to the Council’s Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee.

Then, Their Excellencies the Members heard the comment of His Excellency Member Mr. Habeeb Makki Hashim, on the response of His Excellency Dr. Faisal bin Yaqoob Al-Hamer, Minister of Health, to the question posed by him relative to Ministry’s swine flu (H1N1) education and preventive procedures and programs. His Excellency the Member addressed within the context of his comment the news by some local newspapers that al-Sulaymaniah Medical Center not having reported any incident of the disease over the past three weeks and he inquired about the natural beginnings for the spread of this disease in the world.

His Excellency the Minister of Health revealed that the Ministry recorded up to the 16th of January a total of 1440 swine flu cases, 45% of which involved Bahraini nationals, 80% of which contracted the disease through infection. As regards the education aspect, His Excellency the Minister stated that this calamity had received great concern from the wise leadership and the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain. A higher committee has been set up in the Ministry which spawned several subcommittees for the purpose of following up on the conditions related to this disease in the Kingdom. The Ministry of Health assumed upon itself the duty of tracking the issue from its very beginning and taking all necessary precautions to contain it, and at the same time applying all ways and means to educate the citizens on prevention of this disease.

On his part, His Excellency Faisal bin Yaqoob Al-Hamer, the Minister of Health, stated in his comment on the input of His Excellency Member Rashid Malalla    Al-Sabt regarding the question he posed to His Excellency the Minister regarding the procedures and mechanisms taken up to now since the issuance of Law No.8 for the year 2009 on prevention of smoking and all kinds of tobacco, that since the issuance of the law, the Ministry launched educational campaigns on the damages of smoking and communicated to the ministries, organizations and commissions the decision which bans smoking and that the Ministry’s efforts are still going on to implement the law and verify compliance with it.

His Excellency Member Rashid Malallah Al-Sabt expressed his thanks to the His Excellency the Minister for the efforts exerted by the Ministry to combat the blight of smoking. He further addressed the need for the applicable law to amend certain articles and add other articles to ban smoking in various locations without exceptions as some restaurants and coffee shops do violate this law and he inquired about the actions taken against the violators.

Her Excellency Member Dr. Aysha Salim Mubarak and in her comment on the response of His Excellency Shaikh Ebrahim bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Minster of Housing, to the question she posed regarding the concept of smart houses, displayed some photographs during the session on the construction stages of the smart homes which will be distributed to the housing applicant citizens and she inquired about the nonconventional materials used and whether such materials will be available at reasonable prices, especially as the bulk of the beneficiaries will be of the low income bracket. 

His Excellency the Minister of Housing stated that the conventional building is no longer used in European countries since the middle of last century. The Kingdom of Bahrain is considered one of the pioneering countries which embraced the smart building method almost 70 years ago in Awali City. His Excellency the Minister highlighted the many advantages of the smart building concept, including durability, tolerance, strength and flexibility of design. He revealed an intention to establish a center for smart building materials which will be available to all contracts and confirmed that the Faculty of Engineering of Bahrain University will evaluate the system, evaluate the health of the environment, the speed of construction and thermal insulation based on the consultation memorandum signed between the Ministry and the University, coupled with acquainting the members of the two councils with the a model of a building in this method.

Then, Their Excellencies the Members moved on to discuss the report of the Services Committee on the draft law for amendment of certain provisions of Legislative Decree No.8 for the year 1980 for determination of an increase for retirees and eligible personnel (prepared in line with the proposed law submitted by the Shura Council). The Committee determined in its report the importance of approving the draft law as an important step for standardization of insurance benefits between the employees of the public sector and the private sector, by granting the retiree the option of applying for a 3% cash award upon retirement in common with his civilian and military counterparts in the government public sector or a 10% increase in the retirement pension in accordance with Legislative Decree No.8 for the year 1980 on determination of an increase for pensioners and eligible persons. The Council voted to approve the draft law on the condition that the final opinion thereon be taken during the upcoming session of the Council.

After in depth discussion, their Excellencies the Members heard the opinion of His Excellency Mr. Ahmad bin Zayed Al-Zayed, President of the Civil Service Bureau, and His Excellency Mr. Abdul Aziz bin Mohammad Al-Fadhel, Minister of the Shura Council and House of Representatives Affairs, who confirmed the importance of the issue of increasing and enhancing the salaries of the citizens, which is a point of the continuous interest and care of the government, the recommendation put forward by the Shura Council’s Financial and Economic Affairs Committee for approval of the draft law on raising the minimum wage for the civilian and military personnel of the State by not less than 300 dinars, on the condition that the law enters into effect as of the fiscal year 2011.

In this regard, the Speaker of the Shura Council, expressed his thanks and appreciation to His Royal Highness the Prime Minister for his efforts, and the government for its directives to improve the living conditions of the citizens and create mechanisms conducive to realization of this objective as part of the directives adopted by the wise leadership and the efforts of the legislative authority in both chambers and the attention it pays to the interest of the citizen and enhancing his living standards. The final opinion was taken during the same session by name calling for the purpose of referral of the draft law to the government due to its importance.

In a corresponding trend, Their Excellencies the Council Members voted against approving  a draft law for identification of dates for issuance of executive rules and decisions for laws and implementation of their rules, (prepared in the light of a proposed law submitted by the House of Representatives, based on the reasons and justifications listed by the Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee in its report on the draft law, which concluded that determination of three months for issuance of the rules for implementation of any law involves neglect for the great variations between the various laws some of which may require longer period due to their sheer volume, multiplicity of their articles and the number of the parties concerned with the implementation of the law, which applies to the determination of the House of Representatives to extend this period of time to six months.

The Committee also referred to the existence of a hint to the unconstitutionality of the language of article 3 of the draft law which violates the principle of separation of authorities because it involves interference by the legislative authority in the workings of the executive authority as it requires the concerned government agencies concerned with enforcement of the law to prepare a report on the action taken to implement the provisions of the law and notify the legislative authority represented by the Shura Council and the House of Representatives within a maximum period of not more than 45 days as of the date of publication of the law in the official gazette.

As regards the Services Committee report on a draft law requiring utilization of the Arabic Language in the correspondence and signboards in the Kingdom (prepared in the light of a proposed law submitted by the House of representatives, the draft law was rejected in principle.

Then, Their Excellencies the Council Members moved on to discuss the item related to the proposed law on the Council’s agenda and the Council approved the request of the Chairman of the Council’s foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Affairs, His Excellency Mr. Abdul Rahman Mohammed Jamsheer for withdrawal for further review of a proposed law on protection of the State’s secrets and documents. The proposal was filed by Their Excellencies the Members: Sameera Ebrahim Rajab, Abdul Rahman Mohammed Jamsheer, Soud Abdul Aziz Kanoo, Ahmad Ebrahim Behzad and Dr. Aysha Salim Mubarak. The draft law provides for classification of the protected secrets and documents into three layers, namely extremely confidential, confidential and limited circulation. The draft law also addresses the criteria and controls for description of the documents and secrets, methods of protection and the penalties arising from violation of the provisions of the law.

In a related development, approval was given for possible consideration of the proposed law on facilities lease and organization of the relationship between the owner and tenants and for referring it to the government for rephrasing it in the form of a draft law. The propose law was filed by Their Excellencies the Members: Rabab Abdul Nabi Al-Arayyed, Dalal Jasim Al-Zayed and Khalid Husain Al-Maskati, which consisted of 33 articles divided in seven sections which addressed the tenant’s obligations, the owner’s obligations, expiration of the lease contract, assignment of lease and sublease, the penalties and provisional terms, in addition to a special chapter on definitions and another on general provisions.